Unit doses of liquid products such as shampoo and hair conditioner are often placed in relatively thin, flat packages known as sachets. Such sachets are typically made using vertical forming, filling and sealing (VFFS) processes. Horizontal forming, filling, and sealing (HFFS) processes for making sachets can also be used.
The output of these processes may be a continuous sheet of sachets that are joined together end-to-end. In some cases, the sheet of sachets may also be of a width comprised of several sachets joined side-by-side. Such a sheet of sachets will be referred to herein as a sheet or “mat” of sachets.
There is a need to package such continuous sheets of sachets into containers such as boxes or cases for shipment. In particular, there is a need for improved processes of folding such sheets and placing the same into containers for shipment. Some prior processes of folding and packing such sheets require that the flow of incoming sheets be interrupted in order to carry out one or more steps of placing the folded sheets into containers.
The search for improved packing processes has, therefore, continued. In particular, there is a need for faster processes for packing products such as sachets into containers.